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The legacy of some Navy aircraft and the crews

who flew them remains long forgotten in themountains of Oahu, Hawaii. As in other remote

locations, aircraft that crashed during missions lie

untouched and draw the interest of amateur aviationarcheologists. The sites can be

visited and photographed butthey must not be disturbed

without a permit from theNaval Historical Center inWashington, D.C., which

manages all U.S. Navy historicship and aircraft wreck sites, on

both land and underwater.The remains of an aircraft

that crashed during the KoreanWar are scattered on one site in

Oahu. Navy patrol aircraft flewthroughout the Korean area of operations, and participated in

the blockade of North Korea,keeping merchant shipping and

fishing fleets under surveillance and deterring hostilesubmarine activity. Patrol aircraft participated in

minelaying, dropped flares for air strikes and

conducted weather reconnaissance and search andrescue operations.

Patrol Squadron (VP) 7 arrived in June 1953 from

Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point, R.I., less thanone month before the armistice

on 27 July. It was the onlyAtlantic Fleet patrol squadron to

deploy to the war zone. VP-7was equipped with P2V-5

Neptunes and was based at NASIwakuni, Japan, from which thesquadron patrolled the Sea of 

Japan and the Yellow Sea.VP-7 departed from the

western Pacific in January 1954.On 21 January, the eight-man

crew of aircraft HE 10 (BuNo124874) executed a missedapproach at NAS Barbers Point,

Hawaii. The aircraft turnedtoward the center of the island

rather than turning out over the ocean, and impactedthe Waianae Mountain range at approximately 2130.

22 Naval Aviation News January–February 2004

Relics of Naval

Aviation’s PastStory and Photos by AT1(AW) David Trojan, USN (Ret.)

Top, VP-7’s P2V-5 BuNo 127765 circa 1953 issimilar to the aircraft that crashed on Oahuin 1954. Above, the severed verticalstabilizer of P2V-5 BuNo 124874 lies nearthe tail section at the aircraft crash site.

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The crewmen lostin this mishap

included pilotLieutenant (jg)

Walter J. Hanzo;Ensigns Gerald M.

Hazlett and Wilbur

D. Cooper; ADCJohn R. Staples;

AD2 Joseph D.Beczek; AM2 Paul

M. Koheler; AT2 Joseph M. Maksymon;and AT3 Richard K. Brown.

Today, the aircraft rests on a steepslope where a broken tree standstestament to the force of the impact.

Many small trees have grown up nearthe site and countless twisted pieces of 

metal are scattered around. Authoritieslong ago removed the remains of the

crew, along with the guns and some of the electronics. The tail section,including the tail gun turret, is the largest piece of 

wreckage remaining. The bureau number under theleft tail is in perfect condition, almost as if it were

painted yesterday. Evidence of the crash and fire canbe seen on the fuselage and various parts. A left wing

section still bears the insignia of a white star on onesurface and the letters NA as part of NAVY on the

other. One of the 3,700-horsepower WrightR3350-30W engines sits next to the fuselage

and the other is further down the slope. It isbelieved that a large amount of wreckage

was either lost to the post-crash fire orburied in the earth. No excavation at the site

is permitted. Even rearranging parts of the

aircraft to take photographs is forbidden.Crash sites like this one have historical

and educational value.The Navy emphasizes

preservation andminimizes recovery by

outside parties. Withouta permit, the policy isstrictly “Look but don’t

touch.” On public land,there are laws that

protect the wrecks.Amateur aviation

archeologists should keep in mind that these sites aresilent memorials to those who served and sacrificed inboth war and peacetime.

See the website of the Underwater Archeology Branch of the Naval

Historical Center at www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg12.htm for the

Navy’s guidelines and archeological research permit application on ship

and aircraft wrecks.

David Trojan retired from the Navy in August 2000 after 21 years of 

service, including tours with several patrol squadrons. He is a CH-53

communication, navigation and instruments technical representative at the

Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service Command, MCBH

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Special thanks to Barbara Voulgaris and Wendy

Coble of the Naval Historical Center for their assistance with this article.

Naval Aviation News January–February 2004 23

P2V-5 BuNo 127764 shows the minelayingconfiguration used during VP-7’s 1953 deployment.

Above, the U.S. white star insignia can be seen on the left wingfragment. Left, one Wright R3350-30W engine rests next to a tree.Below, the BuNo is visible on the tail section. Below middle, part ofthe word NAVY remains on the left wing. Below bottom, the 20mmtail gun turret.